A new nasal vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease has cleared plaques from the brains of affected mice and will be tested in humans in 2006.

The drug activates cells in the brain known as microglia, whose job it is to ingest unwanted material. In this case, the microglia are ingesting beta amyloid.

The drug is a combination of glatiramer acetate (Copaxone), an approved MS drug that acts as a decoy for errant immune-system attacks, and Protollin, an adjuvant that stimulates innate immunity.